James Buchanan | whitehouse.gov Air Force One James Buchanan James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States (1857-1861), served immediately prior to the American Civil War. He remains the only President to be elected from Pennsylvania and to remain a lifelong bachelor. Tall, stately, stiffly formal in the high stock he wore around his jowls, James Buchanan was the only President who never married. Presiding over a rapidly dividing Nation, Buchanan grasped inadequately the political realities of the time. Relying on constitutional doctrines to close the widening rift over slavery, he failed to understand that the North would not accept constitutional arguments which favored the South. Nor could he realize how sectionalism had realigned political parties: the Democrats split; the Whigs were destroyed, giving rise to the Republicans. Born into a well-to-do Pennsylvania family in 1791, Buchanan, a graduate of Dickinson College, was gifted as a debater and learned in the law. He was elected five times to the House of Representatives; then, after an interlude as Minister to Russia, served for a decade in the Senate. He became Polk's Secretary of State and Pierce's Minister to Great Britain.

Service abroad helped to bring him the Democratic nomination in 1856 because it had exempted him from involvement in bitter domestic controversies. As President-elect, Buchanan thought the crisis would disappear if he maintained a sectional balance in his appointments and could persuade the people to accept constitutional law as the Supreme Court interpreted it. The Court was considering the legality of restricting slavery in the territories, and two justices hinted to Buchanan what the decision would be. Thus, in his Inaugural the President referred to the territorial question as "happily, a matter of but little practical importance" since the Supreme Court was about to settle it "speedily and finally." Two days later Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the Dred Scott decision, asserting that Congress had no constitutional power to deprive persons of their property rights in slaves in the territories. Southerners were delighted, but the decision created a furor in the North. Buchanan decided to end the troubles in Kansas by urging the admission of the territory as a slave state. Although he directed his Presidential authority to this goal, he further angered the Republicans and alienated members of his own party. Kansas remained a territory.

When Republicans won a plurality in the House in 1858, every significant bill they passed fell before southern votes in the Senate or a Presidential veto. The Federal Government reached a stalemate. Sectional strife rose to such a pitch in 1860 that the Democratic Party split into northern and southern wings, each nominating its own candidate for the Presidency. Consequently, when the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, it was a foregone conclusion that he would be elected even though his name appeared on no southern ballot. Rather than accept a Republican administration, the southern "fire-eaters" advocated secession. President Buchanan, dismayed and hesitant, denied the legal right of states to secede but held that the Federal Government legally could not prevent them. He hoped for compromise, but secessionist leaders did not want compromise. Then Buchanan took a more militant tack. As several Cabinet members resigned, he appointed northerners, and sent the Star of the West to carry reinforcements to Fort Sumter. On January 9, 1861, the vessel was far away. Buchanan reverted to a policy of inactivity that continued until he left office.

In March 1861 he retired to his Pennsylvania home Wheatland--where he died seven years later--leaving his successor to resolve the frightful issue facing the Nation. The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association. Learn more about James Buchanan 's niece who served as First Lady, Harriet Lane . Bachelor President - Was James Buchanan Gay By Tom Murse Updated March 09, 2016. There has never been an openly gay president of the United States, but some historians have argued the first and only bachelor president , James Buchanan, may have had feelings for a member of the same sex. The nation's 15th president is the nation's only bachelor president. A lifelong bachelor, Buchanan had a very close relationship with William Rufus De Vane King, a diplomat who served as U.S. senator and the nation's 13th vice president. King was the only vice president to never have been married.

Buchanan and King, in fact, lived together for more than two decades, although that was a relatively common practice in the 1800s. Buchanan the Bachelor President Historians who believe Buchanan and King were intimate often cite their contemporaries in Washington, who reportedly described King as being effeminate and called him "Miss Nancy" and Buchanan's "better half." They also cite letters written by Buchanan about the man described as his soulmate. After King left the United States to become the minister to France, Buchanan wrote to a friend: "I am now solitary and alone, having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them.

I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection." Also, King showed his own affection for Buchanan at his departure by writing to him: "I am selfish enough to hope you will not be able to procure an associate who will cause you to feel no regret at our separation." Historians Claim Buchanan Was Gay James Loewen, a prominent American sociologist and historian, has been the most outspoken academic who claims Buchanan was the first gay president. "There can be no doubt that James Buchanan was gay, before, during, and after his four years in the White House," Loewen wrote in a 2012 essay. "Moreover, the nation knew it, too - he was not far into the closet. Today, I know no historian who has studied the matter and thinks Buchanan was heterosexual." Loewen has argued that Buchanan's homosexuality is not often discussed in modern times because Americans do not want to believe society was more tolerant of gay relationships in the 19th Century than they are now.

Loewen does not explain, however, how or why a gay Buchanan had been engaged to a woman long before he became president. The woman, Ann Coleman, died and the two never wed. Bachelor Presidential Candidate in 2016 The closest the nation has come to having a bachelor president after Buchanan was in the 2016 election , when Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sought the party's presidential nomination. Graham's candidacy was shortlived, however. Had he been elected, however, he said he'd have a "rotating first lady." "Well, I've got a sister, she could play that role if necessary," Graham also joked. Barack Obama as First Gay President President Barack Obama has been described as being the first gay president, a symbolic label first used in a May 2012 Newsweek magazine headline. The Democrat earned the label during his first term for his vocal support of gay marriage in May 2012 , making him the the first president in U.S. history to take such a position. Obama is married to Michelle Obama , and the couple has two daughters.

Newsweek Cover Newsweek's editor, Tina Brown , explained the term and picture of Obama with a rainbow halo superimposed over his head this way: "If President Clinton was the ‘first black president’ then Obama earns every stripe in that ‘gaylo’ with last week’s gay marriage proclamation ," Brown told the online news site Politico. "Newsweek’s cover pays tribute to his newly ordained place in history." Andrew Sullivan, who wrote the Newsweek story, pointed out that the claim was not meant to be taken literally. "It's obviously a play on Clinton being the first black president. I am aware that James Buchanan (and maybe Abraham Lincoln ) have been in the Oval Office before," Sullivan wrote. Which President Never Married? No one know for sure why Buchanan never married; however, there are possible causes including: Buchanan's flirtatious nature A homosexual orientation Buchanan's Flirtatious Nature Some claim that Buchanan was a flirt and like the company of different women, making it difficult for him to maintain a steady relationship. Buchanan's Broken Heart Another possible cause for his decision to remain a bachelor could have been a broken heart. It was said that Buchanan was engaged to Ann Caroline Coleman who was the daughter of a well to do iron businessman.

Although he was engaged to this young women, he rarely spent time with her because he was too busy with his political aspirations and law firm to court Miss Coleman properly. There were speculations that Buchanan only proposed to Coleman because of her prestigious background and was courting other women while engaged to her. When Coleman became aware through others that he may only be interested in her for status and money and his possible infidelity she confronted him, but he denied it. Coleman broke off the engagement after discovering that Buchanan visited the wife of a friend. Later Coleman would die of an overdose of the substance laudanum . Upon hearing the news, Buchanan was said to be grief stricken and vowed never to marry because he only wanted to be with Coleman and no other woman would do. Buchanan's Homosexual Orientation There is speculation that President James Buchanan was homosexual , and this is the reason that he never married. Prior to his presidency Buchanan lived for 15 years with William Rufus King the Senator of Alabama.

The closeness of the relationship was regarded as unusual during those times and Andrew Jackson even referred to the two as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy.” The nieces of Buchanan and King burned all the letters that the two wrote each other, causing further speculation about Buchanan’s sexuality. Because Buchanan was single and chose not to marry, he had an adopted orphaned niece act as First Lady. Background on the Unmarried President There are several interesting facts about James Buchanan besides his martial status. He is the only President from the state of Pennsylvania. Buchanan is consistently rated as one of the worst presidents in American history because of his handling of the country prior to the beginning of the Civil War . Buchanan is known for having a say in the very infamous Dred Scott Decision . This decision basically stated that Dred Scott, a black slave, was his master's propoerty and was not a citizen of the United States. This decision was a controversial ruling which was rendered shortly before the Civil War. Because President Buchanan wanted the Supreme Court to make the final decision about the issue of slavery in the states, many people felt he used the Supreme Court to indirectly achieve the his goal of maintaining slave owners rights.

There were many people that were not particularly pleased with Buchanan as a president. In fact, the displeasure with the way in which he led the United States became such an issue that Buchanan had problems getting anything passed through Congress. It has even been noted that Buchanan vetoed a bill passed by Congress to create more colleges because he personally felt that, “there were already too many educated people.” Little-known facts about our First Ladies... Little-known facts about our First Ladies... Martha Washington, 1731-1802 George Washington’s wife was the first to be given the title “lady” by the press, as in “Lady Washington,” and the first wife of a president to appear on U.S. postage stamp. Abigail Adams, 1744-1818 John Adams’ wife urged her husband to “remember the ladies” when he was writing the nation’s Declaration of Independence in 1776. She also was the first woman to be both a president’s wife and the mother of a president, and the first to live in the White House.

Martha Jefferson, 1748-1782 No known portrait exists of Thomas Jefferson’s wife, who died 18 years before her husband was elected president. Their daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph served as White House hostess, and was the first to give birth in the presidential mansion in Washington, D.C. Dolley Madison, 1768-1849 James Madison’s wife is the only first lady given an honorary seat on the floor of Congress, and was the first American to respond to telegraph message—sent by inventor Samuel Morse. Elizabeth Monroe, 1768-1830 James Monroe's wife ended the custom of a president's wife making the first social call on the wives of other officials in Washington - and the insulted women boycotted her White House receptions. Louisa Adams, 1775-1852 John Quincy Adams’ wife was the only first lady born in a foreign country—England. She played the harp, wrote satirical plays and raised silkworms. Rachel Jackson, 1767-1828 Andrew Jackson’s wife was a bigamist, having married Jackson before she was divorced from her first husband.

She died after Jackson was elected president but before his inauguration. Her niece Emily Donelson served as White House hostess during most of the Jackson administration. Hannah Van Buren, 1783-1819 Martin Van Buren’s wife—his second cousin—died 18 year before her husband was elected president. Their daughter-in-law Angelica Van Buren served as White House hostess during the last two year of the Van Buren administration. Anna Harrison, 1775-1864 William Henry Harrison’s wife is the only spouse of a president and grandmother of another. She never lived in the White House because her husband died a month after his inauguration. Their daughter-in-law Jane Harrison served as White House hostess for the shortest time—30 days. Letitia Tyler, 1790-1842 John Tyler’s first wife was a stroke victim and the first president’s wife to die in the White House. Their daughter Letty Tyler Semple and daughter-in-law Priscilla Cooper Tyler served as White House hostesses until Tyler eloped with his second wife, Julia (1820-1889), who became the first photographed first lady.

Sarah Polk, 1803-1891 James Polk’s wife worked as the president's secretary without taking a salary, and forbid dancing and card playing the White House. Margaret “Peggy” Taylor, 1788-1852 Zachary Taylor’s wife learned to shoot a gun when she lived with her husband on the Western frontier. When she lived in the White House, she refused to serve as hostess, giving that role to their daughter Betty Taylor Bliss. Abigail Fillmore, 1798-1853 Millard Fillmore’s wife was the first presidential spouse to work and earn a salary before marriage—as a schoolteacher. She died three weeks after leaving the White House, and her husband later married Caroline Fillmore, a widower who was wealthier than he was. Jane Pierce, 1806-1863 Franklin Pierce’s wife discouraged her husband’s interest in politics. Two months before his inauguration, Mrs. Pierce was overtaken with grief and depression when she witnessed the gruesome death of their only living son in a train accident. She never completely recovered from the trauma.

Harriet Lane, 1830-1903 James Buchanan’s niece was the White House hostess for the only president to remain a bachelor. An avid art collector, Lane upon her death bequeathed her collection to the Smithsonian Institution, which today includes the National Gallery of Art. Mary Lincoln, 1818-1882 Abraham Lincoln’s wife was the first to hold séances in the White House, to be attacked in the press for lavish purchases during wartime and to fight for the abolition of slavery. Eliza Johnson, 1810-1876 Andrew Johnson’s wife taught her husband how to spell and pronounce words properly, but tuberculosis prevented her from being hostess, a role assumed by their daughter Martha Patterson, who milked cows at the White House every morning. Julia Grant, 1826-1902 Ulysses S. Grant’s wife was cross-eyed, and owned slaves during the Civil War while her husband served as general of the Union Army. Lucy Hayes, 1831-1889 Rutherford B. Hayes’ wife was the first to ban all alcoholic beverages from the White House.

She also hosted the first Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. Lucretia Garfield, 1832-1918 James A. Garfield’s wife began efforts to conduct historical research on the White House rooms and served as her husband’s primary caretaker for two months after an assassin shot him. Ellen Arthur, 1837-1880 Chester A. Arthur’s wife was a contralto singer who developed pneumonia after a concert and died 20 months before her husband took office. Arthur’s sister Mary Arthur McElroy served as White House hostess and later joined the anti-suffrage movement. Frances Cleveland, 1864-1947 Grover Cleveland’s wife was the youngest first lady—age 21—and the only bride of a president to marry—and give birth—in the White House. Before their marriage, Cleveland’s sister Rose Elizabeth Cleveland served as House hostess of the bachelor president. Caroline Harrison, 1832-1892 Benjamin Harrison’s wife was the first to use electricity and have a Christmas tree in the White House. She was the second first lady to die in the White House.

After her death, her husband married her social secretary and niece Mary Dimmock Harrison. Ida McKinley, 1847-1907 William McKinley’s wife was the only first lady to work as a bank teller and manager, and successfully urged her husband to retain the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Alice Roosevelt, 1861-1884 Theodore Roosevelt’s first wife died in 1884, 17 years before he was elected president. A year later, he remarried and Edith Roosevelt joined her husband in the White House upon the assassination of President McKinley. Helen “Nellie” Taft, 1861-1943 William Howard Taft’s wife was the first first lady to own and drive a car, to ride in her husband’s inaugural parade, to support women's suffrage, to publish her memoirs, to smoke cigarettes, and successfully lobby for safety standards in federal workplaces. Ellen Wilson, 1860-1914 Woodrow Wilson’s first wife was the only professional artist to become first lady.

After her death in the White House, her husband married Edith Wilson, a direct descendant of American Indian princess Pocahontas. Florence Harding, 1860-1924 Warren G. Harding’s wife was first first lady to vote, fly in an airplane, operate a movie camera, own a radio, and invite movie stars to White House. She also was accused of poisoning her husband, who died during his third year in office. Grace Coolidge, 1879-1957 Calvin Coolidge’s wife worked as a teacher of deaf students, and became the first first lady to speak in sound newsreels. Lou Hoover, 1874-1944 Herbert Hoover’s wife was the first woman to graduate from Stanford University with a geology degree. She also spoke Chinese fluently. Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962 Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wife was the first first lady to hold regular press conferences, write a daily newspaper column and a monthly magazine column, and host a weekly radio show. Bess Truman, 1885-1982 Harry S.

Truman’s wife worked as her husband's salaried Senate aide and never gave an interview as first lady. Mamie Eisenhower, 1896-1979 Dwight D. Eisenhower’s wife appeared in television commercials when her husband ran for president, and enjoyed watching TV soap operas in the White House. Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994 John F. Kennedy’s wife was the first first lady to hire a press secretary and a White House curator. She also won an Emmy Award for her television tour of the White House. Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson, 1912-2007 Nicknamed Lady Bird as a child, Lyndon B. Johnson’s wife conducted her own campaign for her husband's election and lobbied for environmental protection. Pat Nixon, 1912-1993 Richard Nixon’s wife created White House tours for the blind and deaf, and was the first first lady to wear pants in public. Betty Ford, 1918- Gerald Ford’s wife once worked as a professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company. She also founded an alcohol and drug treatment center in California that bears her name.

Rosalynn Carter, 1927- Jimmy Carter’s wife was the first to have a VCR in the White House, and to keep her own office in the East Wing. Nancy Reagan, 1921- Ronald Reagan’s wife worked as a professional actress, appearing in movies and in a music video—an anti-drug abuse message. Barbara Bush, 1925- George H.W. Bush’s wife is the second first lady to be both the wife and mother of a president, and the only one to write a memoir from her dog's perspective. Hillary Clinton, 1947- Bill Clinton’s wife hosted the first White House webcast, and is the only first lady elected to public office—the U.S. Senate, and to seek the presidency. Laura Bush, 1946- George W. Bush’s wife is the only first lady to give birth to twins, to work as a librarian and to substitute for a president in his weekly radio address. James Buchanan - U.S. Representative, U.S. President - Biography.com » quotes “Prevent the American people from crossing the Rocky Mountains? You might as well command Niagara not to flow.

We must fulfill our destiny.” “What is right and what is practicable are two different things.” James Buchanan Synopsis James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States, was born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, in 1791. Serving as president during the run-up to the Civil War, Buchanan's inability to halt the southern states' drive toward secession has led most historians to consider his presidency a failure. Buchanan was the only U.S. president from Pennsylvania, and the only one to remain a lifelong bachelor. He died in 1868 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Early Life James Buchanan was born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, on April 23, 1791. His father, James Sr., was a well-to-do merchant and farmer, and his mother, Elizabeth, intelligent and well-read. As a young boy, Buchanan was educated at the Old Stone Academy in his village, and later, Dickinson College, where he was nearly suspended for bad behavior before finally graduating in 1809. After graduating from college, Buchanan moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he studied law, and, in 1812, he was admitted to the bar.

Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the military at the start of the War of 1812 and participated in the defense of Baltimore. Early Political Career In 1814, at age 23, Buchanan began what would be a long political career when he was elected as a member of the Federalist Party to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He later won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served five consecutive terms, from 1821 to 1831. In 1832, when Andrew Jackson was elected to his second term as president, he appointed Buchanan as his envoy to Russia, a post in which Buchanan further proved his aptitude as a diplomat. In 1834 Buchanan returned to the United States and won a seat in Senate as a Democrat, a position he would hold for the next 10 years, until, in 1845, he resigned to serve as James K. Polk's secretary of state, a position he used to further an expansionist agenda. In 1852, he made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, losing to Franklin Pierce, who, after being elected president, made Buchanan his minister to England.

The Fifteenth President of the United States In 1856 Buchanan successfully defeated Republican candidate John C. Fremont and, on March 4, 1857, was sworn in as the 15th president of the United States. In his inaugural address, Buchanan, who had won, in no small part, due to the support he had garnered in the southern states, reiterated a belief that had been one of the major running points of his campaign: that slavery was a matter for states and territories to decide, not the federal government. He went on to suggest that the matter was one that would be easily resolved, both "speedily and finally." Historians have cited these remarks as indicative of Buchanan's fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. Disintegration Shortly after his inauguration, the Dred Scott decision was delivered, essentially stating that the federal government had no right to exclude slavery in the territories. Around this time, Buchanan also attempted to resolve the slavery dispute in Kansas, so that it could agree on a constitution and be admitted to the Union. Buchanan supported the pro-slavery Lecompton constitution, which passed the House but was blocked by the Senate and ultimately defeated.

By the end of Buchanan's presidency, the slavery issue threatened to tear the country apart. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the possibility that several states would secede was approaching likelihood. In his final address to Congress, Buchanan argued that while the states had no legal right to seceded, the federal government had no right to prevent them from doing so. Despite Buchanan's attempts to prevent it, on December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede. By February 1861, six more states followed suit and the Confederate States of America was formed. When Buchanan left office on March 3, 1861, to retire to his estate outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he left the nation on the brink of civil war. Final Years In his retirement, Buchanan devoted much of his time to defending his handling of events leading to the Civil War, for which he was ultimately blamed. In 1866 he published a memoir, in which he laid blame for the war on abolitionists and Republicans. The book was ignored, and Buchanan retreated into privacy.

He died on June 1, 1868, at the age of 78, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was buried in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Personal Life In 1819, Buchanan became engaged to Ann Caroline Coleman, the daughter of a wealthy iron mogul. Their engagement was an unhappy one, however, and amidst rumors that Buchanan was seeing other women, Coleman broke off the engagement. She died shortly thereafter, leaving Buchanan brokenhearted, and her family to blame him for her death, to the point that they would not let him attend her funeral. Buchanan vowed to never marry, and he never did. When Buchanan eventually won the presidency, his niece Harriet Lane assumed the responsibilities of first lady. James Buchanan is the only bachelor president in U.S. history. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information President James Buchanan Buchanan served in the War of 1812. James Buchanan., Library of Congress. James Buchanan was the first to have his inauguration photographed. In 1848 Buchanan bout Wheatland, a country estate located on the outskirts of Lancaster. PA.

He was later called "Sage of Heartland" mush like Henry Clay was called the "Sage of Ashland. Buchanan enjoyed living there. He often had guest and parties. At the parties he would sometimes serve "Old J. B. Whiskey." His guest thought it was named after James Buchanan (B. J.) but it wasn't. In 1855, when he ran for President he didn't give any speeches during the campaign. (Presidential Candidates didn't start traveling and campaigning until after the Civil War.) He did send out numerous letters to people. At his inauguration he wore a black suit made of French cloth. It was somewhat plain on the outside. However, on the inside it had a design of 21 stars representing the 31 one states at that time. He also wore a satin flowered vest. There was a delay the parade to the Congressional building. They realized that the out going president, President Pierce the planning committee had forgotten him. The had to go back and get him. He said the object of his administration was to stop the agitation of slavery by the north. James Buchanan knew a lot about being president. He had had contact with every president from James Monroe to Franklin Pierce.

He had served as a congress man, senator, cabinet officer, ambassador, and party leader before becoming president. He has been ranked as the least effective president on several list created by historians. President Buchanan only served one term. When the Prince of Wales visited the White House, he brought so many people with him that Buchanan had to sleep in the hall. James Buchanan suffered from an eye disorder that caused him to cock his head to the left and close an eye. He liked to give sauerkraut and mashed potato parties. Buchanan got on the nerves of some of the cabinet members so they set up a tour of the the South to get him out of town. John Browns raid took place on October 17, 1859. ( More information on the raid. ) This furthered the split between the pro and anti slavery states. In 1860, Buchanan vetoed the Homestead Act. It would have put land west on sale for 25 cents per acre. This upset the western states who wanted to expand the United States and this would bring more "free" states into the Union. The South was against the bill and the north for it.

Some believe that this veto was the reason that Lincoln was elected in 1861, Queen Victoria sent greetings to Buchanan over the first Atlantic cable. It was a first message sent on the cable and a first cable to a U.S. President and Queen Victoria. Americans were singing a new tune called Jingle Bells during his tenure. President Buchanan owned one of the biggest dogs ever to live in the White House. He had a Newfoundland named Lara. He was also sent a herd of elephants which he gave to the zoo. There were rumors that Buchanan supported the secessionists. Some people called him a traitor. This was not true. 1861 Buchanan sent a message to Congees blaming the blame for the Southern States wanting to withdraw from the union on the antislavery agitators. Southern Senators wanted Buchanan to promise he would withdraw the troops from Fort Sumter of pledge to not send any aid to the fort. Buchanan did not agree to it. When President Buchanan left the White House he left a note for his successor, Abe Lincoln.

"My dear sir, if you are as happy on entering the White House as I on leaving, you are a happy man indeed." (Some say he said it to Lincoln.) He and Lincoln drove together to Lincoln's inauguration at the capitol. James Buchanan died on June 1, 1868 at approximately 8:30 a.m. in Lancaster, Penn. He was 77 years and 39 days old. It was estimated that over 20,00 people attended his funeral. Quotes from James Buchanan: Buchanan did not like being Secretary of State when he left the job he said: “I would for any consideration return to the State Department.” When discussing Fort Sumter and South Carolina taking the fort, Buchanan stated: "The Union must and shall be preserved by all Constitutional means.? "The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among freemen." Fourth Message to Congress, Dec. 3, 1860 Henry Clay once said about then Senator Buchanan who use to write letters rather than debate: "Oh damn him, he deserves it.

He writes letters." This is a quote about James Buchanan made by a friend of his, Ben Parley Poore "Never did a wily politician more industriously plot and plan to secure a nomination than Mr. Buchanan did, in his still hunt for the Presidency." "By God sir, I made James Buchanan, and by God I will unmake him!" Stephen Douglas, 1857 was used as one of the resources for this page. (You can read reviews of this book by clicking on the image or title. How Many U.S. Presidents Were Gay and Who Was the Only Bachelor President? How Many U.S. Presidents Were Gay and Who Was the Only Bachelor President? 2011.01.01 2014.07.01 | Filed Under: Culture Of course, it’s impossible to know for sure if any former U.S. presidents were gay. However, our only bachelor president, James Buchanan, had that reputation in his lifetime. His longtime roommate, Senator and later Vice President William Rufus De Vane King of Alabama, also never married.

According to historians, the two had an inseparable relationship for nearly 25 years, until King’s death, in fact, King was called “Buchanan’s better half,” “James’s wife,” and “Miss Nancy” by some of his colleagues. When the two were temporarily separated after King was appointed minister to France in 1844, King wrote Buchanan, “I am selfish enough to hope you will not be able to procure an associate who will cause you to feel no regret at our separation.” Buchanan wrote to a friend, “I am now ‘solitary and alone,’ having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.” But that’s not all. Hang onto your stovepipe hats, because a few rogue historians also claim that Abraham Lincoln was homoerotically involved with lifelong friend Joshua Speed.

They shared private thoughts, fears, desires, and a bed for four years. Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg wrote that their relationship had “a streak of lavender and spots soft as May violets.” Read More Also, any literature on baseball written in the 1800's does not credit Abner Doubleday with the invention either. But if my... 2016-12-28T23:28:08+00:00 I'm not saying that whoever wrote this did not research this at all but I am saying this explanation of the origins of baseball... 2016-12-28T23:19:30+00:00 IT TOOK ME OVER WINTER BREAK 12 DAYS 3 HOURS 5 MINUTES AND 36 SECONDS. 2016-12-28T02:49:36+00:00 The math here is false. The fundation of how this was worked out is how long it takes to count to 100 in seconds; which is fine...

2016-11-08T22:41:08+00:00 Our real first gay president - Salon.com Monday, May 14, 2012 6:09 PM UTC Our real first gay president Don't believe what Newsweek's cover tells you: The first gay president was James Buchanan more than a century ago This piece originally appeared on History News Network . The new issue of Newsweek features a cover photo of President Obama topped by a rainbow-colored halo and captioned “The First Gay President.” The halo and caption strike me as cheap sensationalism. I realize airport travelers look at a magazine for 2.2 seconds before moving on to the next one. I grant that this cover will probably get Newsweek a 4.4 second glance. I also understand that Newsweek is desperate for sales. Nevertheless, I doubt that the Newsweek of old, before it was sold for a dollar, would have pandered as shallowly. The caption is a superficial way to characterize an important development of thought that the president — along with the country — has been making over recent years. It is also entirely wrong.

Like the mini-furor a couple of months back about the claim that Richard Nixon was our first gay president , the story simply ignores that the U.S. already had a gay president more than a century ago. There can be no doubt that James Buchanan was gay, before, during and after his four years in the White House. Moreover, the nation knew it, too — he was not far into the closet. Today, I know no historian who has studied the matter and thinks Buchanan was heterosexual. Fifteen years ago, historian John Howard, author of “ Men Like That ,” a pioneering study of queer culture in Mississippi, shared with me the key documents, including Buchanan’s May 13, 1844, letter to a Mrs. Roosevelt. Describing his deteriorating social life after his great love, William Rufus King, senator from Alabama, had moved to Paris to become our ambassador to France, Buchanan wrote: I am now “solitary and alone,” having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them.

I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection. Despite such evidence, one reason why Americans find it hard to believe Buchanan could have been gay is that we have a touching belief in progress. Our high school history textbooks’ overall story line is, “We started out great and have been getting better ever since,” more or less automatically. Thus we must be more tolerant now than we were way back in the middle of the 19th century! Buchanan could not have been gay then, else we would not seem more tolerant now. This ideology of progress amounts to a chronological form of ethnocentrism. Thus chronological ethnocentrism is the belief that we now live in a better society, compared to past societies. Of course, ethnocentrism is the anthropological term for the attitude that our society is better than any other society now existing, and theirs are OK to the degree that they are like ours.

Chronological ethnocentrism plays a helpful role for history textbook authors: it lets them sequester bad things, from racism to the robber barons, in the distant past. Unfortunately for students, it also makes history impossibly dull, because we all “know” everything turned out for the best. It also makes history irrelevant, because it separates what we might learn about, say, racism or the robber barons in the past from issues of the here and now. Unfortunately for us all, just as ethnocentrism makes us less able to learn from other societies, chronological ethnocentrism makes us less able to learn from our past. It makes us stupider. To think even for a moment about aspects of personal presentation other than sexual orientation forces us to realize that we today are not necessarily more tolerant. Consider facial hair. In 1864, with a beard, Abraham Lincoln won reelection. Could that happen nowadays? Is it mere chance that no candidate with facial hair has won the presidency since William Howard Taft — and he wore only a mustache? Indeed, since Thomas Dewey in 1948 no major party candidate with facial hair has even run for president, and Dewey wore only the smallest of mustaches.

Perhaps the presidency is too small a sample. Let’s add in the Supreme Court. Since 1930, 34 different men have served on the Supreme Court. All save Thurgood Marshall have been clean-shaven. (Lest readers think that Marshall’s tiny mustache might topple this argument, let me point out that during most of the last 82 years, 70 percent of adult black males have had some facial hair, yet the only three African-Americans to have served on the Supreme Court or as president have had almost none.) The chance that a random sample of 33 white males would have had no facial hair is something like (.9)33 or about .03, not very likely. “Even” today, many institutions, from investment banking firms to Brigham Young University, flatly prohibit beards on white males. Brigham Young falsifies its past to make this rule seem “natural.” Its chief founder, John Maeser, usually wore a full beard and mustache. In front of the building bearing his name stands his bronze statue complete with full beard and mustache. In about 1960, however, perhaps earlier, BYU banned beards.

Then in 1986, the university commissioned artist Ron Bell to paint a portrait of Maeser. Working from an old photograph, Bell did; of course, Maeser wound up bearded. So the administration asked him to remove the beard. “They didn’t want today’s students to believe they could follow suit,” in the artist’s words. He complied. If this example seems too religious, consider the huge secular company Walt Disney Enterprises. The last time I visited Disney World, it still banned facial hair, although it quietly made exceptions for African-Americans with well-trimmed beards or mustaches. In themselves, beards may not be signs of progress, although mine has subtly improved my thinking. Nevertheless, we reached an arresting state of intolerance when the Disney organization, founded by a man with a mustache, would not allow one even on a janitor. Moreover, before we trivialize these examples by thinking they apply only to facial hair, consider that Lincoln was also our last president who was not a member of a Christian denomination when taking office. Could a non-Christian like Jefferson or Lincoln be president today? It’s not clear. All that said, President Obama’s change of heart about gay marriage remains significant.

It does show increasing tolerance compared to our recent past. During the nadir of race relations, that terrible period between 1890 and about 1940 when white America went more racist in its thinking than at any other time, the U.S. also clamped down on beards, liquor (briefly) and, yes, homosexuals. As Jackie Robinson was not the first black player in Major League Baseball, but rather the first after the nadir, so President Obama is not our “first gay” president (Forgive me: I cannot seem to retype Newsweek’s silly headline without putting quotation marks around the words), but only our “first” since the nadir. Remembering that James Buchanan was homosexual complexifies our national narrative, to be sure, but it is a complexity that we need. It prompts us to remember that terrible era, the nadir, when we all moved backward, not just the South. Not just organized baseball but also the Kentucky Derby, the NFL and even previously “black” jobs like railroad foremen got redefined “white only.” Communities across the North became sundown towns, barring African-Americans formally or informally. Even North Dakota outlawed interracial marriage.

Forgetting Buchanan’s sexual orientation helps us forget all the other national secrets we have packed into that closet with him. Ultimately, it prompts us to succumb to chronological ethnocentrism. If, however, we can rid ourselves of the fantasy that we are always getting better, then maybe we can create a nation that actually becomes more tolerant. Then we might — again — elect a real gay president. After all, just three months ago , Disney started letting white male employees grow beards.

Question: Who was the only US President to remain a bachelor?
Answer: JAMES BUCHANAN